(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Many people in Argentina hold negative views on current president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner and her husband and former president Néstor Kirchner, according to a poll by Graciela Romer y Asociados. 44 per cent of respondents have a negative opinion of the current head of state, while 39 per cent feel the same way about the former president.

In October 2007, Fernández de Kirchner won the presidential election with 44.9 per cent of the vote as the candidate for the Front for Victory (FV). In December, Mrs. Kirchner succeeded her husband as Argentina’s head of state. The outgoing president was praised for fostering an economic recovery after a major crisis in 2002. Fernández de Kirchner has vowed to address poverty and carry on with her husband’s fiscal policies.

In March, the current government introduced a variable tax on soybean exports, prompting an angry reaction by the country’s farmers. The levy replaced a fixed-rate tax and increased the price of soybeans. Farmers staged protests and organized roadblocks for several weeks. Grain shipments stopped completely, creating food shortages across the country. Despite a brief period of calm, the protests and organized roadblocks continued.

On Jul. 17, a Senate vote on the variable tax on grains finished in a tie. Argentinean vice-president Julio Cobos cast the tie-breaking vote, effectively killing the government bill. The biggest crisis faced by the current Kirchner administration prompted a cabinet re-shuffle.

On Sept. 13, Martín Lousteau, who served as economy minister from December 2007 to April 2008, described the current Kirchner administration as "atypical, very centralized and incapable of delegating." adding that the president is "in love with abnormality and crisis."

Polling Data

Do you have a positive or negative opinion of…

Source: Graciela Romer y Asociados
Methodology: Interviews with 680 Argentine adults, conducted in September 2008. Margin of error is 4 per cent.

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